Heart of Gold 2011 shakedown cruise on Narragansett bay

Yesterday I remembered why I do all that work to maintain the boat, when we had our first cruise of the season on Narragansett bay. Beautiful day. We got off to a late start, but caught the end of the Blue Angels performance at the airshow. 6 jets in formation made one pass directly over us, but I couldn't get my camera out quick enough to get a photo of them. (another one that got away.) I did get a few nice shots of this J 22 sailing from Warwick Neck into Greenwich bay. If you happen to know the owner, I am happy to share the photos.



slide show is here.

J Class Racing in Newport today Ranger vs. VELSHEDA

I took a day out of work today to take advantage of the weather to get my boat ready for launching next week. Sanded the bottom this morning, painted the bottom in the late afternoon/evening. In between I took a quick drive down to Fort Adams in Newport and snapped a few photos of the race. Traffic getting to and from Newport was heavy, but it was worth the ride. I arrived just as the boats approached Ft. Adams coming downwind to the Gybe mark. i didn't stay for the upwind leg, but Ranger (sail number J 5) bested VELSHEDA (sail number JK 7) finishing clear ahead by 79 seconds, but only by 1 second on corrected time.



spectators:

At Ease of Aquinnah MA - seen at the Anchorage

These pretty 29s were photographed June 10 at the Anchorage in Warren RI, home of Dyer boats.

Not a good night to be on the water

Look what rolled through here at 6 PM Thursday night. The first few minutes were intense, after that the wind calmed down pretty quickly, but the thunder and lightning lasted a while with some strikes close to home.

Photos along the Waterfront Warren, RI - May 1 2011

Spring fitting out.


click here for slide show

Resources for troubleshooting marine VHF radio

Marine VHF Radio FAQ

Shakespere Automatic Radio Tester ART-3 ART-3 tests receiver function as well as output power and VSWR (antenna efficiency).

VSWR = Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) meter ( build your own )

Wooden boatbuilder and his apprentice build a sailboat - Laurie Schreiber - Bar Harbor - MDI - Hancock - Bar Harbor Times

This is a nice article in the Bar Harbor Times about a young apprentice working at Great Harbor Boatworks. He is one very lucky kid!

Wooden boatbuilder and his apprentice build a sailboat - Laurie Schreiber - Bar Harbor - MDI - Hancock - Bar Harbor Times

I've enjoyed following Great Harbor Boatworks on facebook for about a year. VJ & I visited their yard last summer during Maine Boatbuilder's open boatyard days. Lorraine is a great photographer, and Richard was very generous with his time showing us around the yard, telling us about their boats and projects. They are preserving a rich piece of American folk history.

Here is Richard in one of my photos taken during the Aug. 2010 Open Boat Yard days